MILAN, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Stellantis ( STLA ) will

again halt auto production at its historic Italian Mirafiori

plant from Dec. 2 to Jan. 5 due to continuing poor sales for the

electric Fiat 500 city car made there, the automaker said on

Wednesday.

Reuters had reported earlier this month that trade unions

were expecting another production stoppage at the factory, based

in Fiat's hometown of Turin in north-west Italy, for the entire

month of December.

"The reason is the continuing uncertainty in sales of

electric cars in several European markets, which account for 97%

of Mirafiori's production, and luxury cars in some non-European

countries such as China and the United States", Stellantis ( STLA ) said

in a statement.

The Franco-Italian automaker said it told unions that

assembly operations would be halted during Dec. 2-Dec. 17,

adding to a previously agreed closure of the plant for end-year

holidays during Dec. 18-Jan. 5.

Car assembly operations at Mirafiori, which also produces

two low-volume Maserati sports cars, restarted in November after

multiple stoppages this year due to soft market demand, in

particular for EVs.